Legendary golf journalist John Derr died on Saturday, June 6, the day American Pharoah won the Belmont Stakes to become the first horse in nearly three decades to capture the Triple Crown. Derr’s daughter believes he had a heart attack while watching the historic race. He was 97. You can read the New York Times … Read more
Editor’s note: John Derr was a CBS-TV golf announcer from 1958 to 1973. Derr answered to the man known as the father of televised golf, Frank Chirkinian, who died last week after a long battle with lung cancer. By John Derr Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF I KNEW FRANK CHIRKINIAN WELL. Frank was one of a … Read more
By John Derr Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF AT THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP in Louisville, won by Jim Turnesa, the morning of the first round, I arrived at Big Springs Country Club in the car with Sam Snead. He parked in the first open parking space. As he got out he noticed the car parked beside him … Read more
I’M CONVINCED THAT JOHN DERR has more golf (and other) stories than any person I’ve encountered. The 92-year-old sports commentator has included many of them in a new volume titled My Place at the Table: Stories of Golf and Life. The introduction is penned by bestselling author James Dodson. I came to know John through … Read more
(Photo courtesy of Beth) TODAY I WAS REMINDED of North Carolina’s contribution to the game of golf. My wife, two daughters and I were in Raleigh for two days to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Museum of Natural Sciences. While there, we also visited the Museum of History, which included the North Carolina … Read more
(Jim McKay) JOHN DERR COVERED 62 MASTERS and was a colleague and longtime friend of Jim McKay. I asked him for his thoughts following McKay’s death on Saturday. “Jim was a trusted colleague at CBS,” wrote Derr in an email, “where he was at home with any microphone, regardless of the sport, regardless of the … Read more
John Derr interviewing Ben Hogan for CBS Radio. John Derr is a former golf journalist and CBS broadcaster who covered 62 Masters. His friends in golf included Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead. I asked him what was new this morning. “Celebrated 90th birthday playing the Gary Player course at Pinewild in 85,” John … Read more
I didn’t wear a jumpsuit like these pro caddies when I looped for Orville Moody this year. (Glasson/Flickr) Not too bad a year for this golf blogger. I made many new golf connections, including other golf bloggers and writers and several Tour pros — men, women and a handful of legends. I was invited to … Read more
John Derr is a legendary golf journalist and CBS radio and TV announcer who began covering the Masters in 1935. John occasionally writes to me, and today I have another one of his interesting stories to share. In the 1950s John met a fellow named Karsten Solheim on the practice putting green when he was … Read more
Legendary golf reporter John Derr is among the inaugural recipients of the Masters Major Achievement Award to be presented Wednesday morning in the Press Building Interview Room at Augusta National Golf Club. (Photo: John Derr interviewing Ben Hogan.) John Derr covered his first Masters in 1935. Later he was the lead CBS-TV announcer at the … Read more